Where's George?-Legit?

Factual Questions
1

I received from the bank a $5 bill that has stamped on it in red ink the message, "See where I’ve been. Track where I go next! <www.wheresgeorge.com>. "

That site lets you enter the place and date where you got the bill and its condition and a short note. It then shows you its travel history. After the initial result is shown, you cannot retrieve data on it until you register.

Anyone familiar with the “program” that can testify (here, not in a court) that it’s legit and safe to access? Is it a marketing scam from some mortgage lender?

Am I breaking federal law if I by spend the stamped bill? I plan to mail it to a distant friend and ask them to enter the “program”.

2

I’ve heard of it before and I’m pretty sure it’s only doing what it claims; there are other similar schemes for tracking things other than money, for example, books.

3

It is legit. I’ve been using it since the first year they started operating. I have a few bills with hits. None of them have left Florida though. They seem to stay in the general vicinity.

4

Meant to include this link:

http://www.bookcrossing.com/about

(they mention that BookCrossing was partly inspired by WheresGeorge).

5

I marked a couple of hundreds about 6-7 years back. I also signed up for email notification in the event any of the bills were reported, I rec’d. one or two notifications in the next several months. I don’t recall ever disenrolling from the site, but I haven’t heard from them in at least 5 years.

6

I’ve used it for a few years. It’s kinda fun when used along with geocaching. The bills travel further. For the past couple of years, I’ve sent marked bills out with ham radio QSL cards as “greenstamps” for return postage. I’ve gotten hits from New Zealand, Germany, and Russia.

7

I’ve used it in the past. It’s a legit site. Kind of fun to see where your bills have been.

8

[QUOTE=Ignatz]
I received from the bank a $5 bill that has stamped on it in red ink the message, "See where I’ve been. Track where I go next! <www.wheresgeorge.com>. "
[/QUOTE]

To pick a nit, George isn’t ON the $5 bill. Geroge Washington is on the $1 bill. Is whoever stamped the $5 bill implying Honest Abe might know where George is?

Sailboat

9

As others have said, it’s legit and fun if you’re into that sort of thing. I did it for a couple of years and had quite a few hits, and I still get a kick out finding bills “in the wild” and entering them. I got tired of having everyone I handed cash to stare at the bills, realize all of them had the stamp, and then asking me what it was about. I then started only stamping about half my bills and mixing them when spent. The novelty wore off after a while, though, so I don’t do it any more.

[QUOTE=Ignatz]
Am I breaking federal law if I by spend the stamped bill? I plan to mail it to a distant friend and ask them to enter the “program”.
[/quote]

If you haven’t already you might want to check their faq.

They say:

“#8 Is it legal to write on or mark currency?
Where’s George? does not encourage the defacement of U.S. Currency. The law defines ‘illegal’ defacement as defacement that renders bills unfit to be re-issued. For the legal details from the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, please Click Here”

Sending bills to friends, while fun, is frowned on by the Where’s George community. The rules outlines this:

“#1 Natural Circulation
The purpose of Where’s George? is to track the natural and geographic circulation of currency. This means that any bills you enter should be spent by you in the normal course of everyday life. Giving bills to friends, relatives and/or associates for the purpose of re-entry into the website violates the whole premise of Where’s George?. After you enter any bills, just enter them into natural circulation by spending them as you would any other bills. Sending bills via U.S mail or any transportation methods to people in other locales does not constitute natural and geographic circulation. In general, the Where’s George? definition of natural and geographic circulation is spending your cash in the course of any normal transaction with any unknown person/entity.”

Do it if you want, though… all in the name of fun.

10

Sailboat
Member Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 695
Location:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ignatz
I received from the bank a $5 bill that has stamped on it in red ink the message, "See where I’ve been. Track where I go next! <www.wheresgeorge.com>. "

[QUOTE=Sailboat]
To pick a nit, George isn’t ON the $5 bill. Geroge Washington is on the $1 bill. Is whoever stamped the $5 bill implying Honest Abe might know where George is?

Don’t know. It’s first stop was Va. Beach, then traveled 500+ miles to me over 38 days, then I logged it. Ignatz

[QUOTE=nesta]
As others have said, it’s legit and fun if you’re into that sort of thing. I did it for a couple of years and had quite a few hits, and I still get a kick out finding bills “in the wild” and entering them. I got tired of having everyone I handed cash to stare at the bills, realize all of them had the stamp, and then asking me what it was about. I then started only stamping about half my bills and mixing them when spent. The novelty wore off after a while, though, so I don’t do it any more.

If you haven’t already you might want to check their faq.

They say:

“#8 Is it legal to write on or mark currency?
Where’s George? does not encourage the defacement of U.S. Currency. The law defines ‘illegal’ defacement as defacement that renders bills unfit to be re-issued. For the legal details from the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, please Click Here”

Sending bills to friends, while fun, is frowned on by the Where’s George community. The rules outlines this:

“#1 Natural Circulation
The purpose of Where’s George? is to track the natural and geographic circulation of currency. This means that any bills you enter should be spent by you in the normal course of everyday life. Giving bills to friends, relatives and/or associates for the purpose of re-entry into the website violates the whole premise of Where’s George?. After you enter any bills, just enter them into natural circulation by spending them as you would any other bills. Sending bills via U.S mail or any transportation methods to people in other locales does not constitute natural and geographic circulation. In general, the Where’s George? definition of natural and geographic circulation is spending your cash in the course of any normal transaction with any unknown person/entity.”

Do it if you want, though… all in the name of fun.
[/QUOTE]

I was going to send it to a friend 1200 miles away, but, I will spend it for lunch tomorrow. Thanks, all.

Ignatz